Tractor-carried loading apparatus



y 1944. c. c. BALDWIN TRACTOR-CARRIED LOADING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTOPN Y.

I N V EN TOR. Cuff/I5 C. Ba/aw/n May 23, 1944. c. c. BALDWIN TRACTOR-CARRIED LOADING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 23. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Cuff/I5 6'. 50/4444 lines.

attests v Y '7 intersect-emu LoAnmG Arrm'ros i Curtis c.- Baldwin, Ottawa, Kanslfassignor, by l' direct and mesne assignments. CAEBI] Hovey,

r trustee, Kansas City, Mo. 1 f Application October 23, 1942, Serial No. 4 3,073

This invention relates to loaders and more par- 1 positioned oneitherside oi. the engine and se-'-' ticularly to a 1Q in attachmentoithecharac: cured v to the frontaand-rear axles l6 and It by l ter designed to be mounted 'on' a conventional clamps or th 11k ,;,A bumperlfl fixed-across tractorand to be operated by hydraulic 1mechathe front ends of the frame members 26, serves nism forminga'part of the'tractor.v V 5 to pu h against loading mechanism, generally The principal Object of this invention ,is to designated 30, when the tractor moves in a forprovide a power loader so constructed that when ward direction. The rear ends of the frame in lowered conditionit is positioned imme- I members extend beyond the rear of the tractor diately in frontof a tractor, whereby maximum to support a weight box 32, which may be filled lifting power can be applied to the loader on the '10 with sand or other heavy substance to counterinitial lifting movement; and the pushing action act the weight of the loading mechanism andof the tractor can' be exerted directly against load carried thereby. 1 I the loader to eliminate the necessity of extensive Upright supports 84 are fixed on each of the bracing of the loading mechanism. framemembers 24 adjacent the rear axle [8 to A further object is to embody means in appa w hingedly mount the rear end of a boom 36, which ratus of this character whereby the loiiuier is' preferably comprises a pair of tubular arms 38 extended as it approaches its upper limit of converging toward their downwardly arched travel, thus increasing the height to which loads forward ends "to a point slightly ahead of the may beelevated and allowing, such loads to be tractor. The boom may be=furtherstrengthened dumped a substantial distance ahead of the w by truss rodslll, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and tractor. i adequate bracing H should-be provided for the Another aim of this invention is to provide a uprights. A pair of-rams d2, pivotally conloader having a low over-all height in order to nected at their lower ends to frame members clear low ceilings, doorways and the like. 2t, asindicated at l tare hingedly connected at It is a further aim of this invention to protheirupper ends by bearings 48 to a cross mem-, vide a loading attachment of comparatively ber lt of the boom. Flexible conduits 5% consimple but rugged construction that can be nect the rains with hydraulic pump 22 so that mounted on a tractor of' conventional design 3 operation of thepump will extendthe rams to without requiring extensive alterations of the raise the boom as will be obvious. tractor unit. 1 1 l Further objects will appear during the course The forward ends of the boom arms 38 comprise bearin s 52 for rotatively engaging a shaft oi the following specification, referring to [the B l. Yokes 56 of aquadrantill are'positioned beaccompanying drawings wherein:

, tween the forward ends of the boom arms 38v and Fig. l isa side elevational View of a loader are fixed to shaft 54 by means such as cross mounted on a conventional tractor, the raised pins fill. These yokes are spaced apartto receive position of the. loader being shown" in dotted therebetween a sheave 6,2, freely rotatable on Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the outer shaft '56. Extended ends of shaft st to either side of boom 35 are surrounded by sleeves 66 end of the loader in raised condition, thedotted pinned or lotherwise secured to the shaft, and; 7 lines indicating the dumping position of the welded to depending legs 66, which together loading fingers.

with the sleeves: and withthe quadrant '58, may,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a tractor equipped be considered as comprising one section 0t load- T with a loading: attachment constructed in acer 3t. cordance with this invention. Fig4-4 is;:an enlarged verticalsection taken on line of Fig.1,fillustrating particularl a depending sectionv of therloader; and Fig; ,5 15a vertical section taken ont'lln'e V V Y Anothersect'ion of this loader includes afpair 4 of relatively" short, spaced, apart ,bea'ring" arms 1 68 joined to an upright postj'lfl. "(The bearing f portions of arr'ns'ta and similarmbearingfendsl2 on depending legslifi' are mounted for. ma -11 of Fig. 4, showing mechanism for latchingwthe tation ona hinge shaft I i. Loading'ffingerslt'gloadingfingers to .--one sectionof the loader. 5o likewise have bearing portions lt jjsleevedloverl The numeral; Ill designates-generally atractor having front wheels l2 and \arear wheels. 14, mounted -on front and rear axles l6 andxlswrespectively. An engine 20 operates a hydraulic pump, forming standard equipment; ofvsomew a2 slidablycarried in spaced cars at on jthepost and'faste'ned"againstfirotation'"on shaft; lilf'byjfl. 1 cross pins' Normally the loadin'gjflngerslare held in fixed-"frelation to post: ill latching mechanismdncludinga retractable latch', pinf tractors and indicated at ,2Z by dotted linesyal 5 and adapted to''er'i'gagenotch 86 in a ,segrnentfT/ though it isyobvious that-3a pump of like character may be driven from any other suitable 16. A slot is provided in post 10 to receive source, segment 88. Pin 82 is urged to latching engage- An auxiliary frame carried by the tractor ment with segment 88 by a spring 92, surroundcomprises a pair of spaced parallel members 24 60 ing the pin and seated between the ears on post 88 projecting-from the "central loading finger" 10. A spring 83 anchoring the fingers 16 to post 10 returns the fingers to latching relation with the post after each load is dumped.

As particularly shown in Fig. 1. a chain 84 anchors the quadrant 58 to rams 42, the chain passing over an idler pulley 96 carried by boom 88: It may be found desirable to bring the chain downwardly and secure it to the tractor frame instead of the ram. A cable 98 passing over a pulley I also carried by the boom connects quadrant 58 with the post 10. A release rope I02 fastened to latch pin 82 passes over sheave 82 and extends to a point convenient for operation by the driver of the tractor.

By varying the location of the pulley I00 and a by adjusting the length of flexible member 88,

it is possible to have fingers l6 maintain a substantially horizontalposition throughout their upward travel. Such condition of the fingers might be preferable for loading certain materials.

Assuming for example, that the apparatus above described is to be employed for loading hay, the tractor is driven forwardly with the loader in lowered condition and with the bumper 20 pushing against depending legs 66. Hay in either loose or baled form, collects on fingers 16 and as soon as the desired load has been gathered on these fingers, the hydraulic pump 22 is caused to operate through manipulation of conventional valves provided for this purpose and comprising a part of the tractor equipment. Rams 42 thereupon raise boom 88 to elevate the load of hay. The arrangement of chain 84 and cable 88 is such that raising of the boom causes the quadrant 58 to rotate about its axis and bring legs 06 into substantially parallel relation with the boom. Simultaneously the bearing arms Cd and loading fingers 18, in fixed relation therewith. drop back to alignment with legs 88, thus raising the load to a maximum height and extending it well beyond the forward end of the tractor. A pull on the rope I02 by the operator withdraws latch pin 02 from notch 86 to permit movement of the loading fingers 16 to dumping position under action of the load carried thereon, as shown in Fig. 2. After the load is dumped, spring 93 immediately returns the loading fingers to latched engagement with post 10. Rams 42 are then returned to their normal position and the boom and loader are lowered for another load.

Much/time and labor may therefore be saved with apparatus constructed as above described, and although the operation of the attachment has been explained in connection with the loading of hay, it will be obvious that this equipment may also be used for handling many other kinds of material.

If desired, the loading attachment may be removed from the boom and the remainder of the equipment used as a power crane for raising and carrying relatively large loads.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In tractor-carried loading apparatus of the character described, a frame adapted for attachment to the tractor; an upright support on the frame; a boom having one end hingedly mounted on said upright; a ram having its lower end pivotally connected to the frame and its upper end pivotally connected to the boom intermediate its ends; a loader pivotally attached to the free end of the boom, said loader comprising a sectionidepending from the boom and a section in substantially horizontal position when the loader is in lowered condition; a hinge connecting said sections; and means operable in response to raising of said loader for moving said sections into substantially rectilinear relation to each other and to the boom.

2. In tractor-carried loading apparatus of the character described, a frame adapted for attachment to the tractor; an upright support on the frame; a boom having one end hingedly mounted on said upright; a ram having its lower end pivotally mounted on the frame and its upper end pivotally connected to the boom intermediate the ends of the boom; a loader pivotally attached to the free end of the boom, said loader comprising a section hinged to the boom and depending therefrom; a second section hinged to first-named section in substantially right angular relation therewith when the loader is in lowered position means connecting the firstnamed section to the frame and operable in tached to the free end of the boom, said-loader comprising a section hinged to the boom and depending therefrom; a second section in substantially right angular relation to the firstnamed section when the loader is in lowered position; a hinge joining said sections; loading fingers mounted on said hinge; latching means for locking said fingers to one of said sections; means operable in response to raising of the boom for moving said sections from a rightangular to a rectilinear relation to each other and for moving said depending section into substantially rectilinear alignment with the boom to extend the loader; and means operable by a tractor operator for releasing said latching means to dump a load carried by said fingers after the loader has been raised.

4. In tractor-carried loading apparatus of the character described, a frame adapted for attachment to the tractor; an upright support on the frame; a boom having one end hingedly mounted on said upright; a ram having its upper and lower ends pivotally connected to the boom and frame respectively; a loader hingedly attached to the free end of the boom; said loader comprising a pair of sections in hinged relation to each other; a quadrant fixed to one of said sections; a flexible member connecting the quadrant with the other of said sections; and a flexible member connecting the quadrant with the ram; the arrangement of the flexible members being such as to change the sections from a substantially right-angular to a rectilinear relation to each other as the loader is moved from a lowered to a raised position.

CURTIS C. BALDWIN. 

